DIY Beach Pail Toy Storage Unit

I am sure some of you have seen the picture of the ‘Beach Pail Toy Storage Unit’ on Pinterest–but the link does not take you to a page that actually tells you HOW to do it. I gave it a try and will share my findings here…..It was NOT the easiest project ever.

Supplies:

10 plastic buckets- The pinterest post said to get them at Michael’s for $1…so that is what I did. I would recommend getting 12 though, because you WILL break one or two in the process!

Zip ties

Drill

Drill bit smaller than the lip around the edge of the bucket

Permanent marker (not pictured)

Patience–gonna need some for this project!

Instructions:

First, remove the handles from all the buckets

Then, drill one hole in two buckets and link them together with a zip tie. *Make sure the head of your zip tie is smaller than the drill bit so that you will be able to pass it through the hole.

Next, drill another hole in each of the buckets, directly across from the hole that is already there. Drill one hole in two more buckets and connect them to the two connected buckets with zip ties. You should end up with a string of four buckets all zip tied together. These will be the base of the unit.

After you have one line of buckets zip tied together, you will work on the second row. You will place a bucket in the dip between each set of buckets that is already zip-tied together on the first row. This is where it gets tricky. I used my permanent marker to mark the spots where the buckets touched. It is difficult to explain this part, you kindof have to force the buckets to touch by shifting them around. After you make the marks, drill holes at each spot and zip tie the top bucket to the two below it. (and the ones beside it if you are doing the middle one in the second row.)

Don’t do this! I cracked a bucket in the first row after I had already attached one from the second row. So, I had to clip the zip ties from 4 different buckets to get it out. This is why you will need a few extra buckets. I found that if I used very light pressure, and let the drill bit go slowly through the plastic, the buckets were less likely to crack.

It gets increasingly difficult to zip tie the buckets together as there are more of them to maneuver around. It came in handy that I have fairly small hands and fingers.

You will repeat the same steps–lining up the buckets, marking the spots where they touch, drilling holes, zip tying buckets together–until you have a pyramid of buckets all connected.

The entire process took me about two hours. WAY longer than I expected. I did end up with a cute addition to the play area in our den. Given that the buckets are VERY cheap, I do not expect this unit to last forever (or even a year), but, for >$15 I am glad I gave it a try!